Apparatus for fastening the joints of railroad rail



Jan. 7,1969

APPARATUS FOR FASTENING THE JOINTS OF RAILOAD RAIL Filed April 27, 1967 18 20 21a 10 24 27 19 29 10F" 25 26 11 23 l I 'l g .l

J. H. DECKERT 3,420,441

" 21a 26 27 21 22a 8 J9 je 25; 22a 22j jja United States Patent Oliice 3,420,441 Patented Jan. 7, 1969 1 claim Inf. (21.120111v 11/10 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Standard lengths of railroad rail, e.g. 39 feet, are laid with the ends abutting when the ambient temperature is in the range ofk about 60 F. to about 80 F. Angle irons having at least two bolts per rail end are applied and the bolts are tightened to an extent such that the tension in the bolt exceeds about 100,000 pounds per square inch to frictionally secure the angle iron to the rails to an extent that there is no movement therebetween under ordinary conditions.

Angle bars are provided which are used in conjunction with a high strengthlbolt having a round head. At each point where a bolt is to be applied the two angle bars have inwardly facing, vertically extending, bosses, with the area at the ibossof one bar having a cylindrical recessed opening to receive the bolt head and the same area vof the opposite bar being threaded to engage the threads of the bolt. No provision is made for movement of the bolt with respect to either of the angle bars or the rails.

Background of the invention For many years railroad rails, which in the United States usually have a length of 39 feet, have been connected together in a manner so as to permit a limited amount of movement of the rail ends with respect to each other. The reason for this has been that the rail changes in length with changes in temperature and over long distances the effective change of length of the rails employed can be substantial. To this end some of the holes through which each of the bolts pass are slotted in one direction or another to permit the movement to occur. Furthermore,the tension that can be obtained on ordinary track bolts, without breaking the bolt, is on the order of about 35,000 pounds per square inch, and with these bolts the maximum resistance to movement between the angle bar and the rail is of the order of 60,000 to `65,000 pounds. A force in excess of this maximum will cause movement between the rail and the yangle barwhich has been the result desired in order to accommodate the change in rail length with changes in temperature.

This procedure of permitting movement betweenA the rail ends has been recognized to have other undesirable consequences, Thus, for example, as a wheel moves from one rail end to the other there is likely to be a battering of the rail ends caused by their misalignment and/or by the spacing between them. To overcome the ,disadvantages some railroads have been going to continuous lengths of welded rail. This is not a complete solution, however, since it is generally impractical to shop Weld rail into lengths longer than about A mile, and field welding of rail ends creates problems. At the end of each 1A mile length something is necessary to hold the rail ends together without movement. Plastic bonding of the fish plates and rails has been attempted without complete success. Furthermore, in many rapid transit systems, as for example in a subway, it is just not feasible to move a shop welded 1A mile length of rail from the shop to the point at which it is to be laid.

j The principal object of the present invention is to provide a rail connection which, for all practical pfurposes,

will have the holding power of a welded rail joint, but which can be applied with bolts in the `field in the manner of conventional angle bars,

Description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a perspective vie-w illustrating an embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a section viewed at line 2-2 of FIGURE 1; and l FIGURE 3 is a partial section as viewed at line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

Description of the preferred embodiments Although the following disclosure offered for public dissemination is detailed to ensure adequacy and aid understanding, this'is not intended to prejudice that purpose of a patent which is to cover each new inventive concept therein no matter how others may later disguise it by variations in form or additions or further improvements. The claim at the end hereof is intended as the chief aid otward this purpose as it is this that meets the requirement of pointing out the parts, improvements, or combinations in which the inventive concepts are found.

FIGURE 1 illustrates the ends of two rails 10 and 11 connected together by angle vbars (often referred to as fish plates) 12 and 13. Angle bar 12 includes an enlarged head 15 and an enlarged base 16 which frictionally engage the I.head and base 17 and 18 respectively of rail 10. The head and base of angle lbar 12 are connected by a web 19, while a web 20 connects the head and base of rail 10. At spaced intervals along the inner face of web 19 are inner, vertically extending bosses 21 and 22. Each boss has an inner face 21a and 22a respectively, lwhich face is approximately vertical and approximately parallel to the web 20 ofthe rail but spaced therefrom.

Bosses 21 have an opening 24 to receive the shank 25 of a connecting bolt, and a cylindrical recess 26 to receive head 27 of the bolt. The angle bar at boss 22 has a threaded opening 28 to receive and engage the threads of threaded end 29 of the connecting bolt. The bolt 25, 27, 29 is in the form of a cap screw and has a socket 30 in head 27 to receive a suitable tool for tightening the bolt. The bolts are steel bolts.

. In the illustrated embodiment the bosses 21 and 22 alternate throughout the length of each angle bar 12 and 13. Since there are an even number of bosses this procedure results in the two angle bars 12 and 13 being identical. This has the advantage that there are no rights and lefts so that but a single supply of angle bars suffices. In some installations this procedure would be undesirable. As for example, in electric lines where there is a third, electrified, rail immediately outside one of the running rails, it is undesirable to work with tools 4between the electrified rail and the running rail (from a safety standpoint). In such case all of the bosses 22, with the threaded openings 28, would be in one angle bar, e.g. 13, and all of the bosses 21, with the recessed openings 26 for the bolt heads, would be in the other angle bar, e.g. 12.

In the process of my inrvention railroad rail laid in the same general latitudes as that occupied by the'-v original 48 states of the United States would be laid when the temperature was in a range of the order of about 60 F. to about F. The rail ends 10a and 11a are butted together when the rail is laid. The angle irons 12 and 13 are fitted into place and the bolts inserted and tightened up. These bolts are tightened to an extent such that there is a minimum tension on each bolt of about 100,000 pounds per square inch. For example, if the bolt were a nominal 1 inch bolt, it would be tightened by applying 1,200 foot pounds of torque. This results in a frictional engagement between the angle bars and the rails which is at least twice as great as that obtained by conventional engagement between the angle bars and the rails which would break if a tension in this general range were applied to it.

In the illustrated embodiment the .bolts are spaced from each other on 6 inch centers, with the two end bolts being spaced 3 inches from the end of the angle bars. Similarly, the openings 32 in web 20 to receive lche bolts are spaced on 6 inch centers. Using bolts having a nominal shank dimension of 1 inch, openings 32 are made 11/16 inches in diameter. With other size bolts are bolt openings should be about in the range of 4% to 8% larger than the bolt diameter. This supplies some tolerance so far as the center to center dimensions of the bolt openings are concerned. At the same time, it is sufiiciently close so that a tendency of the rail to slip with respect to the bars or vice versa also will be resisted by the bolt, in shear, at the high loadings. This supplies additional resistance to slippage.

The tendency of the -bolt to bend is ameliorated, as compared to prior art angle bars, by reason of the bosses 21 and 22 being on the inside of the angle bars. Thus the beam span of the bolt, as viewed in FIGURE 2, is only about 1 inch with the illustrated embodiment, while with conventional angle bars, having inside faces approximately along the line of the dotted lines in FIGURE 2, the beam span of the bolt is almost twice as large. With the high tensions employed there is a spring action in the angle bars between the head and the base 16. This spring action insures good frictional engagement :between the angle bars and the rail, accommodates minor imperfections, eliminates the necessity for lock washers, etc. The obtaining of this spring action is further enabled by the thinner sections of the web 19 between the bosses 21 and 22, as viewed in FIGURE 3, and as viewed in dotted lines in FIGURE 2.

Following the practices of the present invention it is easily possible to produce a joint connection which will withstand more than 200,000- pounds of tension before significant movement will occur. When this is compared with the fact that a 60 F. change in temperature will,

with pound rail, only produce about 130,000 pounds of pull it will be seen that for ordinary circumstances this connection is more than adequate to hold the rail ends substantially in abutment. With bolt heads 27 recessed there is no danger of them being sheared off by the wheels should a derailment occur.

I claim:

1. In a railroad rail end connection wherein angle bars are positioned against the opposite sides of the web of the rail, with the angle bars being connected by bolts extending through holes in the rail adjacent to ends with at least two bolts per rail end, and for use with a bolt tightening tool, the improvement comprising: said bolts ibei-ng a steel bolt and having a circular head with a socket in the head to receive the bolt tightening tool to permit the rotation of the bolt to tighten or loosen the same; at each bolt hole, the angle bar on one side having a cylindrical recess larger than the bolt hole to receive said head and the angle bar on the opposite side being threaded to receive and engage the bolt; the construction being such that bolts are tightened to an extent such that the tension on the bolt is in excess of about 100,000 pounds per square inch, said heads -being snugly received in said recesses, said bolt holes in the rail web being round and on the order of only about 4% to 8% larger than the bolt diameter.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,160,334 5/1939 Lansing 238-243 1,480,437 l/ 1924 Groff 23 8-243 756,380 4/1904 Lang 238--251 688,321 12/1901 MacPherson 23S- 243 173,012 2/1871 Ibbotson 238--243 OTHER REFERENCES Railway Track and Structures: June 1956, p. 50. (Copy available, Group 317, Class 238/243.)

ARTHUR A. LA POINT, Primary Examiner.

R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,420,441 January 7, 1969 John H. Deckert It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 3, line 2, cancel "engagement between the angle bars and the rails which would break if a tension in this general range were applied to it. and insert equipment and procedures. A conventional track bolt would break if a tension in this general range were applied to it. line ll, "are should read the Signed and sealed this 14th day of April 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Commissioner of Patents Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Attesting Officer 

